NEWS RELEASE

Date: March 10, 2008

Contacts: Derek Danziger

                 619-533-7103 or

Tiffany Metti

619-533-7136

               www.ccdc.com

CCDC CONTINUES PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS ON POSSIBLE

CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX REDEVELOPMENT

MARCH 13 AND 15

SAN DIEGO, CA – Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), on behalf of the City of San Diego, is continuing with a series of public discussion sessions focused on the possible redevelopment of the Civic Center Complex. The sessions serve as a forum to discuss proposed redevelopment plans for the complex, which could include a new City Administration Building. Two of the meetings were held last month at locations in the Central and Northern regions of San Diego. Streaming video of the first public meeting along with presentations from each potential developer can be found by visiting www.ccdc.com in the Civic Center section or by clicking here.

The March public discussions will be held at the following locations and times:

• Thursday, March 13 at 6:30 p.m., Qualcomm Stadium, Club Level, 9449 Friars Road
• Saturday, March 15 at 10 a.m., Malcolm X Library, 5148 Market Street

Two development teams have been selected to advance to the final phase of the Civic Center Complex redevelopment planning process. The teams are Gerding Edlen of Portland, Oregon, and Hines of San Diego.

The upcoming public discussions will include presentations and information from CCDC, the City’s Redevelopment Agency, and both development teams, concerning the opportunities for the area. Comments and questions from the audience will be encouraged during roundtable discussions. No conceptual designs will be presented. Attendees will discuss the proposed redevelopment of the Civic Center Complex and will be able to weigh in on ideas and opportunities.

Final proposals from the two finalists will be submitted later this summer. Each team is expected to consider ideas and suggestions gained from the public meetings for possible inclusion in the submitted proposals. Finalists are also expected to submit conceptual plans and financial projections as part of their final proposals.

Concurrent with the public outreach process, the City is conducting a facilities needs assessment and a financial feasibility analysis. The purpose of the needs assessment is to determine the City’s current and future space needs within a single complex, as it seeks to improve operational efficiency and operating costs. The financial feasibility study will evaluate the City’s projected costs, should it continue to operate in its current facilities.

Currently, San Diego’s City Administration Building accommodates only 600 employees, and the City has had to lease privately owned space for more than 15 years. City offices are now located within eight downtown buildings (four leased), representing more than one million square feet. Of the total space, one half million square feet is leased at an annual cost of $13.5 million.

Collectively, more than 3,000 employees work in the owned and leased properties. Deferred maintenance on the City Administration Building alone is estimated to exceed well above $10 million. Because most of the leases will expire in 2013 and 2014 and rates are projected to increase significantly, site redevelopment is seen as a proactive approach to evaluate possible costs savings.

The developer selection process will include a thorough financial evaluation to ensure that a project moves forward only if it can clearly demonstrate a significant reduction in operational and capital costs to the City. Similar public/private partnership projects include the new city hall in Austin, Texas, and state-of-the-art courthouse facilities in New York City.

Goals of the revitalization include:
• Revitalizing the city’s civic core
• Catalyzing private sector development in the Civic Center area
• Providing more accessible public spaces
• Providing smart-growth, transit-oriented development
• Opening B Street, closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic for 40 years
• Replacing aging infrastructure
• Constructing a more publicly accessible City Hall
• Increasing tax increment revenues generated to the City
• Utilizing sustainable development techniques.

For questions or further information please contact Jeff Graham at 619-533-7181 or jgraham@ccdc.com. 

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CCDC is a public, nonprofit corporation created by the City of San Diego in 1975 to facilitate the redevelopment of downtown’s 1,500 acres.